This article originally appeared in Scarabogram, August 1998, New Series
No. 220, pp. 2-4.

One of the garden delights of high summer is the hollyhock. Although most gardeners
know of the hollyhock's proclivity toward rust, preferring instead to concentrate
on the colorful twirls of flowers, few realize that other more interesting pests
are probably walking around right under their noses. For the hollyhock weevil
is a delightful Lilliputian creature that makes its living largely unnoticed
on this colorful garden shish-kebab.

Adult female hollyhock weevil

Male (left) and female (from Ehret)

The hollyhock weevil is not often noticed because it is so small. Mine measured
in a bit over 4 mm (about 1/8 inch). The amazing thing about this weevil is
not its small size, however, but the length of its snout. It looks for all the
world like the weevil equivalent of an elephant! When measured, the male snout
is about half as long as the total body length...and even longer in the female.
But in action, I swear the snout seems almost as long as the body itself! A
wondrous sight indeed! [Sometimes longer then the rest of the body in females,
according to Hatch.]

Like most weevils, the hollyhock weevil is a plant feeder. Both sexes use
the long proboscis to eat seeds, buds and leaves of hollyhock (Cranshaw 1992).
On my hollyhock, I've only seen them on the flower buds, not on the leaves,
but I haven't checked on them at night.

So why does the female of this creature have a longer snout than the male?
The female lays her eggs in early summer in the developing flower buds. So the
female needs a snout long enough to chew down to the ovary within the developing
bud and there lay her eggs. Hence her need for the extra length. After the eggs
hatch, the larvae eat the developing seed embryo, and pupate within the seed.
Cranshaw (1992) reports that some of the pupae emerge in late summer, and some
the following spring.

But back to snouts. The real question is what the males eat, isn't it? Do they
eat into the buds too? If so, one can see that a long snout would be an asset.
But if they only eat leaves, there is really no need for a long snout, now is
there? Maybe it's a sympathetic evolutionary gesture to make the females feel
less conspicuous? A little scientific observation seems in order, doesn't it?

Overall, I think that having hollyhock weevils is akin to having lovebirds
in the garden - a sensual delight! I can attest to the fact that the weevils
mate frequently and the sexes appear to get along amicably. However, if you
are picky about the appearance of your hollyhock, or if you have too many weevils,
some ideas for control are (1) to pick the seed pods, preventing the immatures
from emerging or (2) shake the hollyhock stalk over a sheet. The adults will
drop off onto the sheet where you can squash them or collect them for friends,
depending on your sensitivity.

Go forth; seek hollyhock weevils. Savor the small delights of summer along
with the large!

[Some additional info: "A species native to southern and southeastern
Europe and Asia Minor. It was first taken in North America in Georgia in 1914
and is now widespread over the United States. The species was first taken in
the Pacific Northwest in 1966 at Soap Lake, eastern Washington" and seems
to be spread in hollyhock seeds (Hatch). The species is also still expanding
its range in Europe, having only recently been found in France (Ehret 1983);
it is also now found as far east as Afghanistan and as far north as Poland (Perrin
1984). According to Tuttle (1954), both males and females feed from unopened
hollyhock buds; mate in late July and August; larvae develop in 4-6 weeks and
pupate around the end of August; most overwinter as adults. Hollyhock is the
only known food plant. Adults feeding on leaves make small round holes; "the
female drills through the calyx and petals of the buds with her long rostrum
and then oviposits in the cavity. While ovipositing, she is usually surrounded
by several males." (Tattershall & Davidson 1954)] --editor.